Clovis was now master of Gaul even to the southern part of it, which had belonged to the West Goths who a century earlier, under the leadership of Ataulf, had taken possession of the country north and south of the Pyrenees (southern Gaul and northern Spain). As there was no political pretext for making war upon the West Goths he found a religious one. The “All Christian” King Clovis assembled the bishops and secular leaders and thus addressed them:
“Shall the West Goth heretics occupy that beautiful country and persecute our Catholic brethren? Arise in the name of our faith and conquer them!”
Clovis had now openly declared his adherence to the Catholic faith, and there was fresh rejoicing in Rome when it was known that he had undertaken a crusade against the West Goths. He was victorious in a battle with Alaric the Second, whom he slew with his own hand, but was prevented by Theodoric the Great,[12] father-in-law of Alaric, from subjugating the entire West-Gothic kingdom. He had to be content with the sovereignty of the region between the Loire and the Garonne (Provence) as part of the Frankish Empire.
Clovis’s career was continually marked by injustice, cruelty, and bloodshed. One outrage rapidly followed another. He next sought to add the possessions of his Frankish relatives to his kingdom. Siegbert, with whom he had fought against the Alemanni, was a cripple because of a wound received in the battle of Toul. Clovis sent word to his son that his father had lived too long, and that if he were out of the way they might be friends. The dissolute son had his father murdered, and sent this message to Clovis: “My father is no longer living. Send messengers to me, and they shall take whatever you need from my treasures.” Clovis sent his messengers, but upon another errand. The young prince led them to the treasure chamber and they assassinated him there.
Clovis next assumed the role of avenger of Frankish chiefs killed by Siegbert. He summoned the heads of the Frankish families and brought such inducements to bear that they voluntarily acknowledged his authority and accepted his sovereignty. He secretly inspired an uprising against one relative, who had proved too obstinate; and when he was brought before him by his own people in chains, Clovis exclaimed: “What! are you not ashamed to appear before me in chains and to disgrace our princely race?” With these words he cut off his head with a battle-axe. He also killed his victim’s brother because he dared to protest. Sooner or later all his relatives who wavered in allegiance suffered from his wrath. Then he began to grow anxious lest some one of the family might have been spared. He hypocritically lamented that he had not a relative he could trust. He instituted a search, but all inquiries were useless. He was in undisputed possession of a kingdom which extended from the mouth of the Rhine to Switzerland on the south, to the Atlantic ocean on the west, and almost to the Pyrenees on the southwest. He thought himself secure against all enemies, but in his forty-fourth year death overtook him.